The concepts herein relate to releasing a well drop into an interior of a well tubing.
There are a number of instances in drilling, completing and producing from a subterranean well where an object is purposefully dropped into the well to plug a downhole opening or apply an impact load. The object, i.e., a well drop, can take many forms, but is typically a spherical ball. Plugging the opening seals the opening against flow and allows the operator to apply fluid pressure to actuate a tool or isolate one portion of the well from another. For example, in certain instances of cementing a casing into a wellbore, a well drop is released to launch a wiper plug from a cementing head at the top joint of casing. In another example, in certain instances of multi-stage cementing, a well drop is released to plug a port collar shifting tool, prior to cementing through the open port collar. Well drops are used in many other contexts, including well treatment, fracing, well clean out and other operations.
Like reference symbols in the various drawings indicate like elements.